Razia Hassan School of Architecture (SA), led by Dean Prof. Dr. Gulzar Haider, is educating the architects of tomorrow. The school promotes innovation, freshness and experimentation through its curriculum and teaching methodology, and thus ranked as one of the most recognized institutions for the study of architecture.

Studying Architecture at SA

At Razia Hassan School of Architecture (SA), we believe that the architectural studies must be pursued with professional aims and humanistic values. The architectural studies must be a synthesis of arts, humanities, and sciences grasped through the rigors of intellect and practice, results of which are aesthetically judged and technically understood. Our commitment to the highest professional and cultural aspirations is achieved through innovative pedagogies applied through challenging and research based projects.

Razia Hassan School of Architecture offers a B. Arch degree program and M. Arch degree program. In both these programs, the aim is to educate and empower the future architect whose design skills can range across scale and scope, in service of an individual client as well as the society at large; who on one hand is taught in an environment of history, theory and artistic expression but on the other hand has enough understanding of allied scientific and technical subjects to work with engineering consultants and construction industry.

Experimentation and Innovation

While current trends in architectural education leave limited opportunities for revisiting the professional curricula, BNU is committed to remain experimental in search of spin-off specializations in the service of built environments: building economics, life-cycle costing towards comprehensive sustainability, designed flexibility towards adaptive reuse of buildings, energy sensitive building subsystems like visible HVAC subsystems, energy sensitive hardware especially windows, lighting and acoustic products, human-factor-integrated furniture design, accessibility and safety details for the handicapped, interior architecture.

School of Architecture lays special emphasis on inculcating socio- economic responsibility as a value that can manifest itself as the economy of means towards a generosity of beneficial ends in the built environment. The emergent respectability of architectural education in Pakistan heralds the possibilities of new architecture related developments beyond the normative practices. It is the aim of SA to capture this enthusiasm in pursuit of a mission oriented education that can improve the quality of life in an affordable and sustainable manner without compromising the ideals of a professional education.

Accreditations and Linkages

The academic program closely follows the aspirations and requirements of the HEC-PCATP (Higher Education Commission and the Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners) National Curriculum of Architecture. A carefully structured balance is created between the studies of historical precedents, critical analysis of contemporary issues, theoretical formulations, applied sciences and technology and project based studios. All attempts are made to create an interdisciplinary educational atmosphere through shared electives with various Schools at BNU.

The Bachelor of Architecture Degree awarded by BNU is duly accredited by PCATP: Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners.

School of Architecture places special emphasis on being connected to the contemporary world. To this end numerous links have been created with European, British, Canadian, American universities.

Our Missions and Goals

Our aim is to prepare members of the profession whose planning and design skills range across scale and scope of projects that are relevant to contemporary realities; who on one hand are taught in an environment of history, theory, perception and meaningful aesthetics but on the other hand have acquired understanding of building technology to work with allied engineering consultants; who are aware of building economics and the importance of the project delivery challenges with special focus on natural resource optimization especially energy, water and materials. Here are a few of the goals that we like to achieve at SA:

To establish, through innovative experiments and testing, architectural curricula and pedagogy aimed at the preparation of a professionally competent, socially responsible, environmentally sensitive, and economically responsible architect of the future.

To create a university environment that encourages and rewards critical practice, and innovative design that contributes to the national quality of life through built environment, building economy and environmental sustainability.

To initiate and develop the culture of research, theoretical and applied, which is essential to university educational environment. While the current Architecture education, under the HEC-PCATP Curriculum is fairly focused because of professional mandate, our goal is to look for opportunities to develop specializations that are relevant to our climatic, socio-cultural-historic technological and economic aspirations as well as realities.

To make the School of Architecture an environment and platform for faculty development for Pakistan through innovative practice, academic research and critical writing.

Teaching Pedagogy

In one day, a student could be subjected to a lecture on philosophical undercurrents of European Renaissance in the morning, a lecture on leaky roof at noon time and be asked to do a sketch for a memorial to the “Man’s Cruelty to Man” in the afternoon and then have an assignment to read Lewis Mumford, Jane Jacobs and use them to do a critical written note on Rem Koolhaas.

However, at BNU, we consider that such apparent chaos can be alchemized into opportunities for students to develop personal strengths in an increasingly cross-connected and progressively homogenizing world. While current Architectural education, being regulated by PCATP (Pakistan Council of Architects and Town Planners), has comparatively fewer options for tweaking, we plan to be experimenting with the curriculum and pedagogy in order to offer student and faculty to follow their personal passions while still remaining within the limits of preparation for professional service to the built environment.

Our Faculty

Razia Hassan School of Architecture is a strong believer in the excellence of faculty as well as physical facilities. It has attracted fulltime faculty with distinguished academic credentials from Universities in USA, UK and Sweden, and visiting professors with specialized experiences. Our faculty is invited as external examiners by all other design schools across the country and abroad.

Facilities

Our state-of-the-art campus; especially the shared building housing the School of Visual Art and Design and the School of Architecture is fully-equipped with facilities that allow our students to carry out their work smoothly. The building has been designed to facilitate student experimental constructions aimed at understanding structural, constructional and environmental necessities of architecture. We have custom-designed studios, labs, and other related educational facilities. School of Architecture is now being equipped with facilities to share online lectures and studio presentations with faculty and students from other universities.

Why Choose Razia Hassan School of Architecture?

Our graduates are employed by respectable practices and we continue to get positive feedback about their maturity of ideas, inventiveness and industrious habits. We are tempted to believe that we are being told the truth.

We have been and continue to remain active in the events of IAP and PCATP. Our contribution as academic paper presenters and invited speakers is recognized by our peers in the professional community.

Our faculty has excellent international education, experience and reputation among peers. Our faculty members are regularly invited as jurors and external examiners by other schools.

We have links with international universities and institutions through the academic and professional work of the faculty.

We have sent the 4th year level students to Directed Studies Abroad tours to Italy, Turkey and China.

We have state of the art, custom-designed studio and educational facilities very closely linked with internationally reputed BNU School of Visual Arts and Design headed by Prof. Salima Hashmi. We are the “center of life” of the 36 acre new campus development in Lahore.

We have tried to make sure that there is designed correspondence among the faculty capabilities and interests and those of the students’ aspirations for the graduating theses. The following is an indicative list directions being explored.